Multi-grade object sorting system and method

ABSTRACT

A paper sorting system allows the high speed determination of color, glossiness and the presence of printed matter for individual sheets of paper in a stream of waste paper. Sorting criteria may be selected from a plurality of predefined options to sort the paper stream.

This application claims benefit of our co-pending provisional patentapplication Ser. No. ______ filed Feb. 4, 2000 and entitled “MULTI-GRADEOBJECT SORTING SYSTEM AND METHOD”, the details of which are incorporatedherein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to a multi-grade object sortingsystem and method and more particularly to such a system for sortingvarious grades and colors of paper.

2. Description of the Prior Art

The high speed sorting of waste paper has only recently become feasiblewith the introduction of a system by the Assignee of the presentinvention as described in pending U.S. patent application Ser. No.09/301,715, filed Apr. 29, 1999, entitled “System and Method for SensingWhite Paper”, by Bruner et al., the details of which are incorporatedherein by reference. The first such system as described in theaforementioned application, could only identify and separate whiteoffice paper. The technique utilized for identifying and distinguishingsuch paper was the presence of the fluorescence of the paper whensubjected to ultraviolet light.

It has been proposed to sort paper based on color as described inEuropean Patent Publication No. EP0873797A2, published on Oct. 28, 1998.The European patent publication proposed to utilize visible light,ultraviolet light, x-rays and/or infrared light to illuminate the paper,while observing the reflected light with one or more cameras connectedto a central processing unit. The disclosure of the European patentoffice publication is very vague with regard to the manner in which sucha process could be conducted, and its sorting system utilizes mechanicalpickers thus indicating that the system would operate at relatively lowspeeds.

Sorting systems for other objects other than paper are available whichutilize red, green and blue light emitting diodes as light sources. Anexample is a product sold by the Assignee of the present invention isdescribed in pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/183,349 filedOct. 30, 1998 by Doak, the details of which are incorporated herein byreference.

Thus, it is seen that there is a need for a system capable of sortingpaper based upon the color of the paper, and capable of doing so atsufficiently high speeds as to make the process economical. Such asystem, along with various refinements thereof is the subject of thepresent invention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A method is providing for sorting paper. The paper is conveyed throughan inspection zone. As the paper passes through the inspection zone atleast three characteristics of the paper are analyzed, including thecolor of the paper, whether the paper is glossy, and whether the paperdisplays printed material. The paper is then sorted based upon at leastone of the analyzed characteristics.

In another embodiment of the invention, an apparatus is provided forsorting paper. The apparatus includes a conveyor for conveying paperthrough the inspection zone. A light source is provided for transmittinglight onto the paper in the inspection zone. A sensor is provided forreceiving light reflected from the paper in the inspection zone. Theapparatus includes a paper analysis system, operably connected to thesensor for receiving the reflected light signals therefrom. The paperanalysis system includes a color determination component, a glossinessdetermination component, and a printed matter determination component. Asorting mechanism is included to sort the paper between a select pathand a reject path. The sorting mechanism is operably connected to thepaper analysis system for sorting paper in response to the analysisconducted by the paper analysis system.

In another embodiment of the invention a high speed method is providedfor sorting paper. The paper is conveyed through an inspection zone at aspeed of at least 1,000 feet per minute, and preferably at least 1,500feet per minute. As the paper passes through the inspection zone atleast one characteristic thereof is analyzed, the at least onecharacteristic being selected from the group consisting of color,glossiness and the presence of printed matter. The paper is sorteddownstream of the inspection zone based upon the analysis of the atleast one characteristic.

In yet another embodiment of the invention, a method is provided forsorting paper based upon the color of the paper. First, the paper ismoved through an inspection zone. The paper in the inspection zone isexposed to a plurality of separate beams of visible light of differentwavelengths. A color of the paper is analyzed based upon a comparison ofthe paper reflectivity of the different wavelengths of visible light.Then the paper is sorted downstream of the inspection zone based uponthe color of the paper.

In still another embodiment of the invention, a method is provided foranalyzing the color of a moving object. The object is moved within aninspection zone. The inspection zone is sequentially interrogated withmultiple light sources of different light wavelengths as the objectmoves within the inspection zone. The interrogation includes a firstseries of sequential flashes of the multiple light sources in a firstorder, followed by a second series of sequential light flashes of themultiple light sources in a second order which is the inverse of thefirst order. Then the reflections of the multiple light sources from thepaper are analyzed. The analysis includes consideration of tworeflections originating from each light source, one of the reflectionsoccurring during the first series and the other of the two reflectionsoccurring during the second series. Preferably, the two reflections areaveraged to approximate the color which would be sensed if the paper wasnot moving at the time of interrogation.

In another embodiment of the invention, a paper sorting apparatus isprovided which includes a conveyor for conveying paper through aninspection zone, the conveyor having a width. A light transmittertransmits light onto the paper in the inspection zone. The lighttransmitter includes an array of red lights, an array of green lights,and an array of blue lights, each array being spaced across the width ofthe conveyor. A light receiver receives light reflected from paper inthe inspection zone. The light receiver includes an array of sensorsspaced across the width of the conveyor. Each sensor receives lightreflected from an area defining one pixel of the paper.

In another embodiment of the invention, a method is provided for sortingpaper. The paper is moved through an inspection zone. Light istransmitted onto the paper in the inspection zone. Light reflected fromthe paper is collected. Then parameters of the light collected fromadjacent portions of the paper within the inspection zone are comparedto identify paper with a varying reflectance from adjacent portionsresulting from a presence of printed matter on the paper. The paper isthen sorted based upon the presence of printed matter.

In another embodiment of the invention, a paper sorting method isprovided. The paper is moved through an inspection zone. A first lightbeam is transmitted from a first source onto the paper. The method thenincludes receiving a diffused reflected first light beam which isreflected from the paper as a result of the first light beam. A secondlight beam is transmitted from a second source onto the paper. Themethod includes receiving a directly reflected second light beamreflected from the paper as a result of the second light beam. Theglossiness of the paper is analyzed based upon a comparison of thediffuse reflected first light beam to the directly reflected secondlight beam. The paper is sorted based upon the glossiness of the paper.

In another embodiment of the invention, an apparatus is provided forsorting paper based upon glossiness. The apparatus includes a conveyorfor conveying paper through an inspection zone. First and second lightsources are provided for transmitting light onto the inspection zone. Asensor receives light reflected from the inspection zone. The firstlight source is oriented so that the sensor receives diffuse reflectedlight from the first light source. The second light source is orientedso that the sensor receives directly reflected light from the secondlight source.

Another embodiment of the invention provides a method for sorting paperwhich utilizes an array of sensors and provides a technique fornormalizing the array of sensors. The method includes conveying thepaper through an inspection zone. Light is transmitted from an array oflight sources onto a mirror. The mirror reflects the light onto theinspection zone, where it reflects off the paper in the inspection zoneback to the mirror. That reflected light which is once again reflectedoff the mirror is received in an array of sensors which sensors generatesignals corresponding to characteristics of the paper in the inspectionzone. The mirror can be moved to a normalization position wherein lightfrom the array of light sources is reflected from the mirror onto areference surface. Outputs from the array of sensors can be normalizedwith reference to the light reflected off of the reference surface.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide improvedpaper sorting methods and apparatus.

Another object of the present invention is to provide methods andapparatus for sorting paper based upon color of the paper.

Still another object of the present invention is the provision ofmethods and apparatus for sorting paper based upon the glossiness of thepaper.

And another object of the present invention is the provision of methodsand apparatus for sorting paper based upon the presence of printedmatter on the paper.

Still another object of the present invention is the provision ofapparatus and methods whereby paper can be sorted based upon any desiredcombination of color, glossiness and the presence of printed matter.

Still another object of the present invention is the provision of apaper sorting method and apparatus utilizing an array of sensors, andproviding a technique for normalization of the array of sensors.

Other and further objects, features and advantages of the presentinvention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art upon areading of the following disclosure when taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a side view of the system and method of the preferredembodiment in an operating position.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the method and system in a calibrationposition.

FIG. 3 is a frontal view of the transmitter and receiver array of thepreferred embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a cutaway view showing the photo diode receiver withanti-reflective barrel texture of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a side view of the surface gloss detection method of thepresent invention.

FIG. 6 is a drawing showing the LED normal versus corrected readings ofthe system and method of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart which illustrates the manner in which thereceived signals from the various light sources are analyzed todetermine the category of paper passing through the inspection zone.

FIG. 9 is a schematic illustration of a paper sorting apparatusincluding the sorting system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 10 is a schematic illustration similar to FIG. 9 showing two papersorting systems in series.

FIG. 11 illustrates a home screen of a human interface touch screensystem.

FIG. 12 illustrates a sort select screen.

FIG. 13 is a schematic illustration of a piece of paper showing adjacentportions or pixels of the paper which are observed by the receiver andsensors.

FIG. 14 is a view similar to FIG. 13 showing adjacent rows of pixels ata higher paper speed.

FIG. 15 is a graphic illustration of the sequential series of pulsesassociated with a single pixel or area on the paper being examined.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring now to FIG. 1 there is shown generally at 10, the multi-gradeobject sorting system and method of the present invention. FIG. 1 showsthe preferred embodiment in which transmitter or first light array 12transmits light along transmitted light pathway 26 into mirror 16 whichthen redirects the transmitted light along redirected transmitted lightpath 28 onto object 100 which is preferably paper. The light reflectedfrom object 100 travels along reflected light path 30 onto mirror 16which then redirects the reflected light along redirected reflectedlight path 32 into receiver 14. In each case, the light passes throughwear cover 18 which protects the mirror 16 from object path 102 whileobject 100 is traveling along belt 20. Although FIG. 1 shows thepreferred embodiment, it should be understood that movable mirror 16,although adding features unique to the preferred embodiment, can beremoved with transmitter 12 directing light directly onto object 100which would make the transmitter light path direct instead of bifurcatedinto transmitted light path 26 and redirected transmitted light path 28.Likewise, the receiver can receive the reflected light directly fromobject 100 instead the reflected light of being divided into reflectedlight path 30 and redirected reflected light path 32.

The conveyor belt 20 has a width 21 as seen in FIG. 8. Conveyor belt 20is typically a black rubberized belt.

Referring now to FIG. 2 there is shown generally at 10, the multi-gradeobject sorting system and method of the present invention shown incalibrating or normalization position. In this instance, transmitter 12transmits light along the same transmitted light path 26 shown inFIG. 1. However, mirror 16 is now in calibration or normalizationposition 16′ which, in turn, reflects redirected transmitted light 26along redirected transmitted light path 28′ into and through referencewear cover 22 onto reference surface 24. In the preferred embodiment,reference surface 24 is a constant color which is, preferably, whiteTeflon. The white Teflon surface maintains a constant color over time,which should, over time, reflect a consistent color along reflectedlight path 30′ against mirror 16′ which redirects reflected light 30′along redirected reflected light path 32′ into receiver 14. Incalibration or normalization position, an analyzing computer system orsystems will realize what the readings from the receiver 14 should bewhen light from transmitter 12 is reflected against reference surface 24and will factor in the normalization to make sure that all sensors areread uniformly so as to not effect the sorting ability of system andmethod 10. Above mirror 16 there is placed reference wear cover 22which, in turn, is intended to make light from reference surface 24 havethe same optical properties as light passing through wear cover 18 overconveyor belt 20. In other words, wear cover 18 actually affects theamount of light passing through it. Therefore, to ensure propernormalization, reference wear cover 22 is interposed along redirectedtransmitted light path 28′ and reflected light path 30′.

Referring now to FIG. 3 there is shown generally at 50, part of thepreferred transmitter and sensor arrays of the present invention thatmakes up transmitter 12 and receiver 14, respectively. Transmitter 12includes transmitter array 52 which includes various rows of lightemitting diodes (LEDs). Likewise, receiver array 54 of receiver 14contains a row of lenses and photo diodes.

In the preferred embodiment, transmitting array 52 consists of a row ofinfrared LED's 56, a row of red LED's 58, a row of green LED's 60 and arow of blue LED's 62. Until very recently, there was no source ofadequate blue LED's 62. In the preferred embodiment, infrared LED's 56are of the type such as HSDL-4230 manufactured by Hewlett Packard. RedLED's 58 are of the type such as KR5004X manufactured by Stanley. GreenLED's 60 are of the type such as HLMP-CM15 manufactured by HewlettPackard. Blue LED's 62 are of the type such as HLMP-CB15 manufactured byHewlett Packard. In the preferred embodiment, receiver array 54 containsmultiple lens and photo diode pairs 64.

Referring now to FIG. 4, there is shown generally at 64 a cutaway viewof one lens/photo diode pair of the present invention. As can be seen inFIG. 4, lens 66 receives light from mirror 16 (not shown) and directs itonto photo diode sensor 68. In the preferred embodiment, lens photodiode pair housing 70 has interior surface 72 having threads 74. Threads74 perform the function of preventing unwanted redirected reflectivelight 32 from being received by photo diode 68. As can be seen,admissible light which is generally parallel to the axis of housing 70,travels along admissible light path 76 through lens 66 which focuses thelight along focal path 77 onto photo diode 68. Conversely, inadmissiblelight, which is classified as light which is off the axis of the lightarray, which probably means that the light is coming from a position onthe object 100 that does not need to be analyzed, passes alonginadmissible light path 78, bounces off thread 74 and bounces alongbounce path 80 for inadmissible light which misses photo diode 68.

Each photo diode 68 and lens 66 is constructed so that the photo diode68 is sensitive to incident light having a deviation from axial of lessthan about 3°. This may be referred to as a receiver or telescope. Eachreceiver will receive light from a target area on a surface about twofeet away which is about ¾″ to 1″ in diameter. The receivers are arrayedat a 0.75″ spacing linearly to form a linear array.

Referring now to FIG. 5, there is shown another aspect of themulti-grade object sorting system and method of the present invention.In this particular drawing, the surface gloss detection system andmethod 150 is shown. The sensor and receiver layout shown in FIG. 1senses paper by grade and by color and is directed at a given angle. Thedegree of surface gloss of paper or other objects 100 needs to bedetermined in order to make a more accurate sort. Accordingly, surfacegloss detection system and method 150 uses light transmitter array 152that can be pulsable and diffused in the preferred embodiment. Lightfrom transmitter array 152 passes along diffused path 154 onto object100. In the preferred embodiment, light transmitter array 152 ispulsable so that light transmitter array 152 can be turned on and offvery quickly thereby alternating with the different colored LED's shownin FIG. 3. Therefore, diffused light passes along diffused light path154 onto object 100. If the paper 100 is glossy, a substantial portionof the light energy will be directly reflected along pathway 156 ontomirror 16 and then along pathway 158 into receiver 14. If the readingfrom light transmitter or array number 152 is greater than lighttransmitter array number 12, then there is gloss. If the two readingsare equal, then there is no gloss. In the preferred embodiment, thelight from transmitter 12 and transmitter array 152 is infrared whenmeasuring for gloss.

The first and second light beams from sources 12 and 152 are transmittedat approximately equal but opposite angles 348 and 350 on opposite sidesof an imaginary plane 352 normal to the direction 102 in which the paper100 is moving. The second source 152 is physically wide and made up of anumber of individual sources thus providing what may be generallydescribed as a wide and diffuse source so that the light 154 therefromis directed at a variety of angles generally directed toward the paper100. This allows paper 100 that is somewhat crumpled or not lyingexactly parallel upon the belt 20 to be examined for glossiness, becauseat least some of the rays from wide and diffuse source 152 will strikethe surface of the paper 100 in such a manner as to directly reflectalong path 156 to the mirror 16 and then to the receiver 14. Infraredlight is preferred for use in the gloss detection because most inksutilized on printed matter will reflect a lot of infrared light, evenblack inks, whereas if a colored light were used for the glossdetection, some inks would absorb much of that color. Also, infraredlight emitting diodes are cheaper than visible light colored lightemitting diodes, and thus all else being equal the infrared LED ispreferred. It will be understood, however, that glossiness detectioncould be achieved in a somewhat less efficient manner by use of acolored light source.

Referring now to FIG. 6, there is shown the colored corrected readingsof the preferred embodiment. Each circle on belt 20 represents acircular reading of light reflected from belt 20. As object 100 passesalong path 102, the infrared LEDs from second light array 152 areflashed onto second infrared first spot 250 and read by receiver 14.Then the infrared LEDs from first light array 12 are flashed onto firstinfrared first spot 252 and read by receiver 14. Then the red LEDs fromfirst light array 12 are flashed onto red first spot 254 and read byreceiver 14. Then the green LEDs from first light array 12 are flashedonto green first spot 256 and read by receiver 14. Then the blue LEDsfrom first light array 12 are flashed onto blue first spot 258 and readby receiver 14. Then the no light is flashed onto dark spot 260 and readby receiver 14. Then the blue LEDs from first light array 12 are flashedonto blue second spot 262 and read by receiver 14. Then the green LEDsfrom first light array 12 are flashed onto green second spot 264 andread by receiver 14. Then the red LEDs from first light array 12 areflashed onto red second spot 266 and read by receiver 14. Then the firstinfrared LEDs from first light array 12 are flashed onto first infraredsecond spot 268 and read by receiver 14. Finally, the infrared LEDs fromsecond light array 152 are flashed onto second infrared second spot 270and read by receiver 14. In summary, initially, infrared number 2 willflash, then infrared number 1 will flash followed by, in preferredorder, red, green, blue, dark, blue, green, red, infrared number 1 andinfrared number 2. The purpose behind bracketing the colors on each sideof center is that with the passage of time and the objects along amoving belt, the very center of the target area cannot be flashed withevery color at a single given time. Therefore, the center value isapproximated by averaging the like color values. Although FIG. 6 showsthe preferred order of flashing, any other sequence of flashing couldalso work as well.

Referring now to FIG. 7, there is shown a simplified flow chart of howthe system analyzes the data received by receiver 14 as shown in FIGS. 1and 5.

Initial step 200 is reading the transceiver array of the infrared, red,green, blue, and gloss sensors and averaging the two sensor readingsreceived from each light source.

This information is then further analyzed in five concurrent processes201, 211, 215, 219 and 223 beginning with steps 202, 212, 216, 220, and224, respectively.

Initial or color comparison process 201 essentially compares the logs ofthe intensities of the reflected light received from each of the lightsources. Initial or color comparison process 201 begins with the step202 of forming the natural logs of the data obtained during step 200.After the natural logs 202 have been formed or determined, the logslopes of the infrared readings divided by the red readings (ln(IR/IR)),the red readings divided by the green readings (ln(R/G)), and the greenreadings divided by the blue readings (ln(G/B)) are computed in step204. The advantage of using logarithm ratios is that it avoids taking adivision step which is very time consuming for the microprocessor.

Step 204 is followed by a step 206 of performing a non-linear conversionfor each log slope that increases the low slope resolution. Thisnon-linear conversion 206 is followed by concurrent steps 208 and 210.Step 208 is plotting the LN (R/G) v. LN (G/B) on a two dimensional mapand reading the mask out from the map. Step 210 which is plotting thelog infrared/red versus the log red/green on a separate two-dimensionalmap and reading the mask out. A mask is a binary data comprising eithera one or a zero.

Second concurrent or visible intensity computing process 211 begins withstep 212 which is computing the intensity (red plus green plus blue datafrom step 200). Following step 212 is step 214 of plotting of theintensity (red plus green plus blue divided by 3) on a one-dimensionalmap and the reading of a mask.

Third concurrent or intensity derivative process 215 after step 200 isstep 216 of computing intensity derivative. The intensity derivative isdefined as the sum of the difference in the intensities between thetarget area and the adjacent target areas. The intensity derivative willprovide a measure of the amount that the intensity varies from point topoint on the object. For example, a piece of white paper has anintensity derivative of zero whereas a sheet of paper with printing willhave a higher intensity derivative because the intensity changes frompoint to point based upon the various spaces with or without ink. Afterstep 216, the intensity derivative is plotted on a one-dimensional mapand a mask is read in step 218.

Fourth concurrent or gloss computing process 219 following step 200begins with step 220 which is computing the gloss using the directreflected infrared light from transmitter 152 divided by the diffusereflected infrared light from transmitter 12. Following step 220 thegloss is plotted on a one dimensional map and the mask is read in step222.

Fifth concurrent or color derivative process 223 after step 200 iscomputing the color derivative 224. The color derivative will provide ameasure of the amount that the color varies from point to point on theobject. For example, a piece of white paper has an color derivative ofzero whereas a sheet of paper from a color magazine will have a highercolor derivative because the color changes from point to point basedupon the varying amounts color. Following step 224, the color derivativeis plotted on a one-dimensional map and a mask is read from the map instep 226.

In the preferred embodiment, processes 201, 211, 215, 219 and 223 areconcurrent to save time. However, they can be sequential or some of themcan be concurrent.

The masks from steps 208, 210, 214, 218, 222, and 226 are then combinedin step 228 using a Boolean function in such a way that if all readingsfrom steps 208, 210, 214, 218, 222, and 226 are 1's, then ejection step230 occurs. Otherwise no ejection occurs in non-ejection step 232.

The maps are analyzed based upon predetermined ranges based upon thesort desired. The criteria and ranges used to determine whether a 1 or 0is assigned depends upon the desired results depending upon the type andcolor of papers sought to be sorted out.

Some readings for the various calculations are as follows. Examplevalues for several types of paper are shown in the following Table I:TABLE I White b + w brown (printed) newspaper magazine cardboardln(ired/red) 0 +.2 -2 to +2 +1 ln(red/grn) 0 +.2 -2 to +2 +1 ln(grn/blu)0 +.2 -2 to +2 +1 color 0-10% 0-10% 50-100% 0-10% derivative Intensity70-100%  30-70%  20-100% 30-60%  Intensity 0-50% 0-50%  0-60% 0-10%derivative gloss 0-30% 0-30%  30-80% 0-20%

These values show that each category of paper may be identifieduniquely. Where there is overlap in the color identification, one of theother quantities may be used the resolve the final categoryidentification. For example, a white area on a magazine would not beconfused with white paper because the gloss and color derivative valuesare different.

It is also noted that the white paper being sorted typically includesblack print material, so that there will be a measurable intensitydeviation for “white” paper.

It will be understood that the color determination can be accomplishedmore precisely by examining characteristics in addition to theindividual intensities of reflection of the various color componentssuch as red, green and blue. For example, the overall reflectance orintensity of reflectance of all colors can help distinguish between adark blue and a light blue.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the multi-grade object sorting systemand method of the present invention. As can be seen, transmitter 12 isactually an array with receiver 14 also being an array. Mirror 16 isshown in operative position, but can be pivoted about mirror axis 17. Ascan be seen, in the preferred embodiment, at any one flash in time, aseries of adjacent areas along scan line 34 are illuminated.

SUMMARY OF THE APPARATUS

Referring now to FIG. 9, a schematic illustration is there shown of asystem 300 for sorting paper. The system 300 includes a mechanicalconveyor system 302 which is preferably constructed generally inaccordance with pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/301,715,entitled “System and Method for Sensing White Paper”, of Bruner et al.filed Apr. 29, 1999 which is assigned to the Assignee of the presentinvention and the details of which are incorporated herein by reference.The conveyor belt 20 is a part of the mechanical conveyor 302. Themechanical conveyor 302 takes an incoming stream 304 of waste paper andspreads it into a high speed moving stream of individual papers, asingle layer thick, which are moving at speeds in excess of 1,000 feetper minute, and preferably speeds of at least 1,500 feet per minute.

The sorting system 10 described above with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3 isa part of the mechanical conveyor system 302. As seen in FIG. 1, aportion of the belt 20 which is observed by the receiver 14 may begenerally described as an inspection zone 306. The conveyor 20 conveysthe paper 100 through the inspection zone 306.

The transmitter 12 of FIG. 1 may be generally described as a lightsource 12 for transmitting light onto paper 100 in the inspection zone306. The receiver 14 of FIG. 1 may be generally described as a sensor 14for receiving light reflected from the paper 100 in the inspection zone306.

A control system 308 is connected to the light source 12 and the sensor14 is shown in FIG. 1, for controlling operation of the light source 12as previously described, and for receiving data from the sensor 14. Themicroprocessor of control system 308 is programmed in accordance withthe functions described above with regard to FIG. 7 in order to performthe analysis. The control system 308 may also be described as a paperanalysis system 308 operably connected to the sensor 14 for receivingreflected light signals therefrom. The paper analysis system 308includes a color determination component which includes processes 201and 211. System 308 further includes a glossiness determinationcomponent which includes process 219. The system 308 further includes aprinted matter determination component which includes processes 215 and223.

Based upon the analysis of FIG. 7, the control system 308 also activatesa sorting mechanism 310 which is schematically illustrated in FIG. 9.The sorting mechanism uses means such as, for example, air jets 312 forsorting the paper 100 into a select path 314 and a reject path 316.Again, the details of construction of the sorting mechanism 310 areshown in pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/301,715, entitled“System and Method for Sensing White Paper, of Bruner, et al., filed onApr. 29, 1999, and assigned to the Assignee of the present invention,the details of which are incorporated herein by reference. The sortingmechanism 310 sorts the paper between the select path 314 and the rejectpath 316 in response to signals from the control system 308 and inaccordance with the analysis conducted by the process illustrated inFIG. 7.

The control system or paper analysis system 308 has stored therein data,such as that provided above in Table I, which data corresponds topredetermined values of parameters corresponding to color, glossinessand presence of printed matter for a plurality of categories of papersuch as those described in Table I.

The color determination component processes 201 and 211, the glossinessdetermination component process 219, and the printed matterdetermination component processes 215 and 223 each are constructed todetermine parameters for paper 100 of unknown category passing throughthe inspection zone 306 and to compare the parameters of the paper ofunknown category to the stored data such as that of Table I.

Although the sorting system 10 is highly flexible and is capable ofanalyzing many different variables and identifying many differentcategories of paper, it will be understood that typically the system 10will be set up to separate a given stream of paper into two resultingstreams, namely the select path 314 and the reject path 316. It will beunderstood that the reject path 316 may in fact be made up of veryvaluable material, and that typically the reject stream 316 will simplybe the divided fraction which is the smallest. For example, if theincoming stream 304 were primarily white office paper with a relativelysmall proportion of colored paper, cardboard or other miscellaneousitems contained therein, the reject stream would be selected to beanything which is not white office paper.

If it is desired to separate an incoming stream into more than twofractions, then typically two sorting systems 10 and 10′ would be placedin series as shown in FIG. 10. The select path 314 from the first systemwould become the incoming stream to a second sorting system 10′ andwould then be sorted into a second select path 318 and a second rejectpath 320.

The control system 308 includes a human interface system 322 whichincludes a sort selection touch screen input panel 324. The humaninterface system 322 includes a plurality of predefined options forsorting of predefined categories of paper so that a human operator ofthe sorting system 10 may select one of the predefined options to beimplemented by the paper analysis system 308 and the sorting mechanism310.

FIG. 11 illustrates a first screen display of the sort selection touchscreen input panel 324, which is generally designated by the numeral326. The first screen or home screen 326 displays indicia correspondingto whether the paper sorting apparatus 300 is running, whether there areany current faults indicated, such as low air pressure or the like, andwhat the current paper sort selection criteria is. By touching a sortselect button 328, the user is taken to a sort select screen 330illustrated in FIG. 12. The sort select screen 330 illustrated displayssixteen individual options, each of which is associated with apredefined paper selection option. Each option will display textdescriptive thereof For example, option 332 is associated with thepredefined option to “PASS WHITE PAPER; EJECT ALL COLORED PAPER”.Similarly, the selection 334 is associated with the predefined option of“EJECT ALL WHITE PAPER; PASS ALL COLORED PAPER”, etc.

The transmitter 12 can be described as having an array of red lights 58,an array of green lights 60, and an array of blue lights 62, each arraybeing spaced across the width 21 of the conveyor belt 20.

The receiver 14 can be described as including an array of sensors 64spaced across the width 21 of the conveyor, each sensor 64 receivinglight reflected from an area such as area 336 seen in FIG. 13 anddefining one pixel 336 of a sheet of paper 100.

To illustrate the concept of pixels and adjacent areas on the paper 100,reference is made to FIG. 13. There an arbitrary piece of paper 100 isrepresented. Assuming for this example that each sensor 64 of receiver14 observes a circular area or pixel 336 of diameter of ¾″, and assumingthe sensors 64 are spaced a distance of ¾″ apart across the width 21 ofconveyor belt 12, then the observed areas on paper 100 would correspondto observed areas such as 336A, 336B, 336C and 336D shown in FIG. 13.Any two of these pixels, such as 336A and 336B can be consideredadjacent pixels. Then, depending upon the speed at which the controlsystem 308 actuates the transmitter 12 and receiver 14, and dependingupon the speed at which the conveyor belt 20 is moving the paper 100,the row of pixels 336 will be followed by a second row, which maydirectly abut the first row, such as second row of pixels 338A, 338B,338C and 338D shown in FIG. 13. Or if the speed of the paper 100 isfaster, the first row 336 may be followed by a spaced second row 340A,340B, 340C and 340D as shown in FIG. 14. In either event, pixels such as336A and 338A may be referred to as adjacent pixels, and in FIG. 14,pixels such as 336A and 340A may be referred to as adjacent pixels.

SUMMARY OF THE METHODS

The methods of the present invention can be generally summarized asfollows. The paper 100 is conveyed on conveyor belt 20 through theinspection zone 306. At least three characteristics of the paper areanalyzed as the paper passes through the inspection zone 306. Thosethree characteristics are the color of the paper, whether the paper isglossy, and whether the paper displays printed material. Then the paperis sorted based upon at least one of the characteristics analyzed in theanalysis step.

The method may include a step of providing a logic map specifying valuesof parameters corresponding to the three characteristics for a pluralityof categories of paper. The logic map could, for example, includeinformation like that set forth in Table I, which information, ofcourse, would be in digital form. The analysis step of the methodincludes a step of determining the parameters for paper of unknowncategory passing through the inspection zone 306, and comparing theparameters for the paper of unknown category to the values in the logicmap and thereby determining the category of paper passing through theinspection zone 306. This determination can be performed, for example,by the method outlined and described with reference to FIG. 7.

The method may include a step of selecting a category of paper to besorted from the other paper being conveyed through the inspection zone.This selection step may be executed by use of the sort select screenshown in FIG. 12.

The analysis step may include a step of measuring an intensity of lightreflected from the paper and originating from first and second lightsources of different colored light. This measuring step may be conductedin accordance with processes 201 and 211.

The parameters of the logic map may include a log slope of theintensities of the reflected light from the first and second sources asdescribed in process 201 of FIG. 7.

The parameters of the logic map further include a color derivativerepresentative of a difference in color of adjacent portions of thepaper in the inspection zone as described with regard to process 223 inFIG. 7.

The parameters of the logic map may include a combined intensity of thereflected light from the first and second sources, as described inprocess 211 of FIG. 7.

The parameters of the logic map may include an intensity derivativerepresentative of a difference in the presence of printed matter onadjacent portions of the paper in the inspection zone as described withreference to process 215 in FIG. 7.

The analysis step may also include the measuring of an intensity ofreflected light reflected from the paper 100 and originating from firstand second light sources 12 and 152 of the same color light, preferablyinfrared light. The first and second light sources 12 and 152 aredifferently oriented so that the measured reflected light from the firstsource 12 is diffuse reflected light and the measured reflected lightfrom the second source 152 is directly reflected light. The parametersof the logic map may include a comparison of the diffuse reflected lightfrom the first source 12 with the direct reflected light from the secondsource 152, which comparison is a representation of whether the paper isglossy or not. If the paper is not glossy, then the intensity of diffusereflected light originating from first source 12 will be approximatelyequal to the intensity of directly reflected light originating fromsecond source 152. If, however, the paper is glossy, it will be muchmore directly reflected light from second source 152.

The methods further include a high speed method of sorting paper. First,the paper is conveyed through the inspection zone 306 at a speed of atleast 1,000 feet per minute, and more preferably at least 1,500 feet perminute. At least one characteristic of the paper is analyzed as thepaper passes through the inspection zone. The at least onecharacteristic is selected from the group consisting of color,glossiness and the presence of printed matter. Then the paper is sorteddownstream of the inspection zone based upon the analysis.

When the basis of analysis is to be the color of the paper, the paperwill be exposed in the inspection zone to a plurality of sources ofvisible light of different wavelengths. The analysis step is then basedupon a comparison of the paper's reflectivity of the differentwavelengths of visible light. The plurality of separate beams of visiblelight preferably include red light, blue light and green light and thatthose lights are preferably provided by red, green and blue lightemitting diodes.

When the characteristic to be analyzed is glossiness, the methodincludes steps of collecting diffuse reflected light reflected off thepaper from a first light source, and collecting directly reflected lightwhich may also be referred to as dielectric reflected light, reflectedoff the paper from a second light source 152. Then the analysis stepincludes analyzing the glossiness of the paper based upon a comparisonof the diffuse reflected light to the dielectric reflected light.

As used herein the two different concepts of a diffuse reflected lightbeam and a directly reflected light beam are defined as follows. A lightbeam from source 152 which strikes a surface such as paper 100 at anangle such as 356 illustrated in FIG. 5, and then is reflected directlyoff of the surface of the paper at an opposite angle such as 358 alongpath 156 is referred to as directly reflected light or the dielectricreflection. On the other hand, light which is transmitted onto the papersuch as along path 28 from mirror 16 illustrated in FIG. 5, and whichthen bounces off the irregular surface texture of the paper to scatterin all directions, a small portion of which would travel back along thepath 30, is referred to as diffuse reflected light. The typical angle358 to the vertical at which the receiver 14 observes the inspectionzone 306 is approximately 30°. This prevents any gloss on the surface ofthe paper 100 or the belt 20 itself from causing a false reading of highreflectivity. For example, black plastic might read as white due to thehigh reflection caused by the shiny surface if the receiver 14 wasoriented perpendicular to the belt 20. The reflected lightcharacteristics that are sensed to determine color of the paper arethose reflections which are due to the diffuse reflection from thesurface texture of the paper 100, and not the dielectric or directreflection from the boundary surface which is due to gloss of the paper.

When the characteristic to be analyzed is the presence of printedmatter, the method may include a step of comparing the intensities ofthe light reflected from adjacent pixels such as 336A and 336B or suchas 336A and 338A or such as 336A and 340A, to identify paper withvarying reflectance from adjacent pixels resulting from the presence ofprinted matter on the paper.

Similarly, the paper may be analyzed for the presence of a varying colorbetween adjacent pixels to identify the presence of printed matter.

When the method is based upon an analysis of the color of the paper, atechnique may be utilized to correct for dynamic aberration of thesensed color of the paper moving within the inspection zone. This methodincludes sequentially exposing the paper in the inspection zone 306 tothe plurality of separate beams of visible light of differentwavelengths in a first sequence and then in a second sequence which is areverse of the first sequence, so that two reflected light signals aregenerated for each wavelength of light. Then the analysis step includescombining the analysis of the two reflected light signals for eachwavelength of light to correct for dynamic aberration. Preferably, thecombined analysis includes averaging the two reflected light signals.These sequence of lights may also include one or more infrared lightsources.

The following example is provided to illustrate the relative timeduration of the various activities which occur during the color analysisprocess.

EXAMPLE 1

The paper 100 is moving through the inspection zone 306 at a speed of1,500 feet per minute which is equal to 300 inches per second. The sizeof each pixel 336 is determined by the observation area of one of thesensors 64 which is a circular area having a diameter from about ¾″ to1″. Thus each pixel can be considered to have a length 342 and a width346, each of about ¾″. If the cycle time between repetitions of thesequence of interrogating lights is set at 2,500 microseconds, theprocess will repeat 400 times per second, and thus, adjacent rows ofpixels 336 and 338 will repeat every ¾″ and will abut as shown in FIG.13. FIG. 15 is a schematic illustration of the timing of these variouspulses as they would appear if displayed on an oscilloscope screen. Eachpulse of one of the light emitting diodes last for a duration of 50microseconds. The LED flashes begin 80 microseconds apart. The timeinterval between the center line of adjacent pixels 336A and 338A is2,500 microseconds. The 2,500 microsecond time that it takes a givenpixel length 342 to pass across a point in the inspection zone 36 isdivided as follows. There are eleven periods of LED flashing to providethe first sequence of infrared from gloss source 152, infrared fromfirst source 12, red, green, blue, then dark, then blue, then green,then red, then infrared from source 12, and then infrared from source152. Each pulse has a duration of 50 microseconds and there is aninterval of 80 microseconds between the beginning of adjacent pulses,thus resulting in a total of 880 microseconds during which the variouslights are flashing. This leaves 1,620 microseconds during which nolight from either of the sources is illuminating the inspection zone.With reference to FIG. 13, it will be appreciated that because the paperis moving, the receiver 14 will actually examine light received from anarea slightly longer in length than the ¾41 length 342 which is beingexamined at any given point in time, because of the fact that the papermoves a short distance during the 880 microsecond duration of the seriesof eleven flashes. The actual ¾″ length area being analyzed by thesequential series of flashes is best conceptualized as being the ¾″ longarea which the receiver 14 examines during the “dark” interval 346 inbetween the first series of flashes and the second reverse order seriesof flashes. Because the nested pairs of flashes of each color on eitherside of the dark interval 346 are averaged, they represent the reflectedintensity of each of those colors that would have occurred at the spotbeing observed during the dark interval 346 if the paper had in fact notbeen moving. As can be seen in the example just described, the first andsecond series of sequential flashes are performed during aninterrogation time interval of 880 microseceonds which is less than the2,500 microsecond time required for a pixel of an object equal in sizeto the inspection zone to move through the inspection zone.

Of course as previously noted the belt speed can be increased so thatadjacent rows of pixels are not physically abutting each other, as forexample, in the alternative example illustrated in FIG. 14.

When using the normalization system illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, themethod may be described as including steps of conveying paper 100through the inspection zone 306, then transmitting light from an arrayof light sources 12 onto a mirror 16 which reflects the light onto theinspection zone 306. The light in the inspection zone is reflected offthe paper 100 back to the mirror 16 and then back to an array of sensorsin receiver 14, which array of sensors generate signals corresponding tocharacteristics of the paper 100 in the inspection zone 306.Periodically, it may be necessary to normalize or calibrate the varioussensors of the array of sensors contained in receiver 14, and this isaccomplished by rotating or moving the mirror 16 to the normalizationposition illustrated in FIG. 2 where the light from the array of lightsource 12 is reflected from the mirror 16 onto the reference surface 24.During that time, outputs from the array of sensors in receiver 14 maybe normalized with reference to the light reflected from the referencesurface 24. During this process the light being directed to thereference surface 24 preferably travels through a reference wear cover22 which has properties of light transmission substantially the same asthose of wear cover 18, thus simulating the light which should bereceived by the receiver 14 from a white object on conveyor belt 20.

These normalization procedures may be executed automatically on aperiodic basis. They may also be executed automatically upon start up ofthe apparatus. They may also be executed intermittently based uponindividual direction from the human operator.

When the receiver 14 is normalized or calibrated, each of the photodiodes of the receiver 14 will have its corresponding output adjusted sothat each photo diode sensor 68 has the same output for an identicalpaper pixel 336 located thereunder. Thus, once the receiver array 14 hasbeen normalized, if a large sheet of white paper or any other uniformcolor paper passes through the inspection zone 306 covering the entireinspection zone, each sensor should have an identical output. When thereceiver is directed to the reference surface, the microprocessoradjusts all signals to read 100%. Thus, when the receiver is redirectedto the belt 20 in normal operating position, the receiver 14 has beencalibrated so that a piece of white Teflon passing along the belt 20should also result in a 100% reflection for all colors.

It will be appreciated that it would not be practical to normalize thereceivers with reference to the black conveyor belt 20 for severalreasons. First, the belt is black which normally has a zero reflectance,and normalization at zero output is not effected. Furthermore, the beltbecomes dirty with use.

This normalization technique is important because the actual signalsthat will be measured when objects pass through the inspection zone 306are based upon changes in output, and it is important to have anormalized base signal to which that change can be compared. As noted,this normalization procedure could take place periodically (e.g., onceper hour) during the operation of the apparatus 10. A normalizationcycle involving rotation of the mirror 16 and then return to theoperating position would typically not take more than 3 to 5 seconds.Thus, it is practical to perform the normalization as the apparatus 10is operating, as only a very small amount of paper will pass through theinspection zone 306 and not be properly sorted during the normalizationcycle.

Thus, it is seen that the apparatus and methods of the present inventionreadily achieve the ends and advantages mentioned as well as thoseinherent therein. While certain preferred embodiments of the inventionhave been illustrated and described for purposes of the presentdisclosure, numerous changes may be made by those skilled in the art,which changes are encompassed within the scope and spirit of the presentinvention as defined by the appended claims.

1-66. (canceled)
 66. A method of sorting paper, comprising: (a) movingthe paper through an inspection zone; (b) transmitting light onto thepaper in the inspection zone; (c) collecting light reflected from thepaper; (d) comparing parameters of the light collected from adjacentportions of the paper within the inspection zone to identify paper witha varying reflectance from adjacent portions resulting from a presenceof printed matter on the paper; and (e) sorting the paper based upon thepresence of printed matter on the paper.
 67. The method of claim 66,wherein: step (d) includes comparing an intensity of light reflectedfrom the adjacent portions of the paper.
 68. The method of claim 66,wherein: step (d) includes identifying differences in color of theadjacent portions of the paper.
 69. A method of sorting paper,comprising: (a) moving the paper through an inspection zone; (b)transmitting a first light beam from a first source onto the paper; (c)receiving a diffuse reflected first light beam, reflected from the paperas a result of the first light beam; (d) transmitting a second lightbeam from a second source onto the paper; (e) receiving a directlyreflected second light beam, reflected from the paper as a result of thesecond light beam; (f) analyzing a glossiness of the paper based upon acomparison of the diffuse reflected first light beam to the directlyreflected second light beam; and (g) sorting the paper based upon theglossiness of the paper.
 70. The method of claim 69, wherein: the firstand second light beams of steps (b) and (d) are light beams of the samewavelengths.
 71. The method of claim 70, wherein: the first and secondlight beams are both infrared light.
 72. The method of claim 70,wherein: the second source is a diffuse source so that glossiness ofcrumpled paper can be detected.
 73. The method of claim 69, wherein: thefirst and second light beams in steps (b) and (d) are transmitted atopposite angles on opposite sides of a plane normal to a direction inwhich the paper is moving.
 74. The method of claim 69, wherein: steps(b) and (c) occur prior to steps (d) and (e).
 75. The method of claim69, wherein: steps (d) and (e) occur prior to steps (b) and (c).
 76. Themethod of claim 69, wherein: step (f) includes comparing an intensity ofthe diffuse reflected first light beam to an intensity of the directreflected second light beam; and determining that the paper is notglossy if the intensities are substantially equal.
 77. An apparatus forsorting paper, based on glossiness comprising: a conveyor for conveyingpaper through an inspection zone; first and second light sources fortransmitting light onto the inspection zone; a sensor for receivinglight reflected from the inspection zone; the first light source isoriented so that the sensor receives diffuse reflected light from thefirst light source; and the second light source is oriented so that thesensor receives directly reflected light from the second light source.78. The apparatus of claim 77, wherein: the first and second lightsources transmit the same color of light.
 79. The apparatus of claim 78,wherein the light is infrared.
 80. The apparatus of claim 78, whereinthe first and second light sources are light emitting diodes.
 81. Theapparatus of claim 77, wherein: the first and second light sources arelocated on opposite sides of an imaginary plane normal to the directionof conveyance of the paper and passing through the inspection zone. 82.The apparatus of claim 81, further comprising: the first light sourcebeing oriented in a direction parallel to the direction of conveyance ofthe paper; a mirror oriented to reflect light from the first lightsource onto the inspection zone; and the second light source is orientedto direct light from the second light source directly onto theinspection zone.
 83. The apparatus of claim 82, wherein: the secondlight source is a wide diffuse light source to accommodate detection ofglossy paper which is not lying exactly flat upon the conveyor. 84-88.(canceled)